Devils enter postseason on six-game win streak

The Devils left the ice after Saturday's 4-2 win over the Senators not knowing who they'll be playing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Panthers or Capitals?

It wound up being the Panthers, who won the Southeast Division Saturday night and host the Devils in Games 1 and 2; but you get the feeling these guys are thinking more about the way they're playing instead of the opponent.

The Devils enter the playoffs (after their one-year absence) as winners of six games in a row, having allowed eight goals in those six games.

By playing the Panthers, the Devils go against the team that fired Pete DeBoer after his three years behind the Florida bench, three non-playoff years.

The Devils went 2-1-1 against the Panthers this season, 1-1 in Florida.

"When we played them the first time (Nov. 21 in Sunrise), there was some emotion involved," DeBoer said after Saturday's game. "I'm not going to lie to you. That's human nature.

"We played them four times during the season and we've gone 82 games. Three-quarters of that team is different personnel than what I had there, so they really are (just) another team for now. I'll have a few more friends in the crowd in Florida from my time there, but other than that it has no special meaning."

The teams haven't met since Feb. 11, when the Panthers came to Newark and beat the Devils 3-1.

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NHL Team Report - New Jersey Devils - NOTES, QUOTES

--Because the division winners have to be in the top three seeds, the Devils will open the playoffs on the road at Florida even though they had more points than the Panthers.

"I'm fine with it. That's the format here in the playoffs," coach Peter DeBoer said before Saturday's regular-season finale. "We've been in a very tough division this year and I think it's made us playoff ready and kind of battle ready. We've been a good road team all year and I expect that to continue."

--In Florida, DeBoer gets to face his old team, and the Devils get to see old friends John Madden and Scott Clemmensen, both playing for the Panthers.

--The Devils won a season-high six straight games to end the regular season, yielding just eight goals in the six games. Four of the games were at home.

--As far as not having home-ice advantage in the playoffs, the Devils hit the road for Games 1 and 2 of the first round knowing they were 24-13-4 (52 points) at home and 24-15-2 (50 points) on the road.

--New Jersey set the NHL record for penalty-killing efficiency, the Devils' 89.25 percent (27 goals on 257 chances) shattering the mark of 89.25 set by the 1999-2000 Stars. The Devils also scored a league-high 15 shorthanded goals.

"We've paid a lot of attention to it," captain Zach Parise said of the PK. "We feel really good when we're on the PK. A lot of times we're getting great chances and we're getting momentum off of our own penalties. We're doing a good job on it."

--The Devils scored two power-play goals Saturday and scored six during their six-game winning streak, on 20 attempts.

--Parise, defensemen Mark Fayne and Bryce Salvador and wingers Petr Sykora and Dainius Zubrus all played in all 82 games; Parise after missing 69 games with a knee injury last season and Salvador after missing the entire season with an inner-ear concussion. Oh, and Sykora played in Europe last season.

--DeBoer was sporting a new tie in Saturday's game.

"We went into Detroit the other night and the night before the game I went over to Windsor and spoke at the law school I went to," he said. "The gift committee, two girls there, gave me a couple of ties. This is one of them. I told them I'd wear it."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Florida plays a very good team game. They rely on their depth. They're a four-line team with a real team identity." -- Coach Pete DeBoer, on the Panthers, New Jersey's first-round playoff opponent.

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NHL Team Report - New Jersey Devils - ROSTER REPORT

PLAYER NOTES:

--G Martin Brodeur ended the regular season on a personal five-game winning streak, yielding seven goals in the five games. His final record was 31-21-4 and he enters the playoffs 99-82 with a 2.01 goals-against average and 23 postseason shutouts.

--RW Ilya Kovalchuk closed the regular season with his 36th and 37th goals, the second into an empty net. He had five goals and three assists in the last eight games and led the team in scoring with 83 points.

"Not bad," he said. "It always can be better. I think we started slow this year, but the last 50 games we picked it up and then we played really well."

Kovalchuk enters the playoffs having won only once in nine previous playoff games. He has three goals and five assists in the eight games with the Thrashers and Devils.

--C Stephen Gionta, age 28, scored his first NHL goal Saturday, and it was a game winner.